Family members scan QR codes to remember their deceased. Image: China Daily

​chinaurbanisationnews

The cost-intensive industry of burial services not only eats away at urban space, but also causes immense environmental damage. In response, one Beijing-based cemetery has launched a burial initiative which is eco-friendly and innovative.

Ashes are scattered around the park. Image: China Daily

QR Code and GPS System Combined

Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing is pioneering a burial effort to achieve environmental mitigation. It advocates that human ashes are buried beneath trees, flower beds, grass, rocks, in water and in cinerary urns that are biodegradable. Plans are under way to store ashes in some parts of the street lamps or other places on the square.

​​Families who choose this way for burial can obtain a commemorative plaque engraved with the deceased's name and a QR code, which allows people to view the deceased's photos, videos, biography, and family tree, and leave condolences on the message board provided after scanning.

The cemetery can house 15,000 burial jars, which means each body only takes up one-square-meter space. Except this, graves for other ways of burial on average only take up 0.48-square–meter space, with a greening area of 3 square meters.

​As there are no serial numbers on the tombstone and the places for ashes burial are loosely scattered in the park, GPS marked addresses are expected to be added to the tombstones. The accuracy of GPS is expected to be set within 3 meters.

The robot used for sterilization at the funeral room. Image: China Daily

​Robot Sterilization​Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery has utilized robot sterilization to save labor while ensuring safety of the staff there and family or relatives of the deceased.

The one-meter-tall robot was co-launched by an institute working under the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the cemetery. The inventor said the efficiency of sterilization could be 98.14 percent, and frequency of sterilization can be extended to once a week.

"Previously, one-time sterilization would take one hour with five staff members involved in the task. But we still weren't sure whether all viruses and bacteria had been killed, which was a threat to us and our family," said Qu Jie, an employee working at the funeral home. "Now my family also feels safer."

An employee works on computation of the facial features before 3D prints the mask needed for corpse's facial repair. Image: China Daily

3D Technology for Facial Repairs​Facial repair is a way to respect the dignity of the deceased and provide consolation to families. Now, 3D printing can perform this task better in a shorter time.

It usually takes three hours to print a mask based on the facial features captured through computation. The mask will be used for further repair, for instance, silica gel will be filled in if possible.